c smith

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  • Exchange Frequency: How Bank Guarantees Are Like Defined Contribution Plans
    Depositors don't feel any need to "transact" (i.e., move their money) because the risk has been entirely socialized. Key message here is NOT on the liability side of the banks balance sheets (the focus of this article), but the asset side. As a banker, I can now give depositors money away to anyone, and it doesn't matter if they pay it back because Treasury will be there to make all depositors whole.

    Untenable.
    Dec 22 11:49 am |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Bernie Madoff Comes Out of the Closet
    I think Bill Buckley said it first:

    The problem with communism is communism. The problem with capitalism is capitalists.
    Dec 13 13:44 pm |Rating: +4 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Low Rates, Big Problems
    Only way to "solve the housing problem" is to make mortgages assumable. This removes some of the huge frictional costs (lawyers, RE agents, title firms, appraisers, transfer taxes) of getting a home into the hands of someone who can afford it. Never happen though.
    Dec 07 09:02 am |Rating: +2 -1 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Calculating a Housing Bottom: Volume vs. Price
    Simplest, quickest solution to the entire housing mess is to make mortgages assumable. This would eliminate all the tolltakers (real estate agents, appraisers, lawyers, title insurers, etc.) who drive up the cost of getting properties in the hands of people who can afford them. It would work, but it will never happen.
    Dec 06 16:00 pm |Rating: +2 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Why I Am Long National City
    However, this would likely be a worst case scenario as loan loss provisions have already begun to decline at many of America’s banks, including National City, which saw loan loss provisions decline 25% from the preceding quarter.

    So why did PNC mark the NCC loan book at levels $10 billion lower than NCC did just a week prior?
    Oct 28 16:34 pm |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • In the Fog of Volatility, the Notional Becomes Payable
    now I understand why AIG keeps upping their cash needs...thanks
    Oct 28 08:45 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Singing the Praises of Financial Innovation
    test
    Oct 19 20:09 pm |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • BofA: No More 'Typical' Wall Street Pay at Merrill
    How about Raymond James, Edward D. Jones, UBS, Smith Barney, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, hell he can hang a shingle on the side of his house.

    This comment shows how out of touch czxqa is. Does he believe that RJF is in anywhere near the position that MER was in comping it's sales team? The others he mentions are in nearly as much distress as MER. Hang out a shingle? Yea. You want to talk about a pay cut? I've done it. Managing customers AND employees AND compliance AND systems AND managing money all at the same time might be a tad harder than he thinks. Talk to Schwab, big guy (I have it on good authority that they're looking for producers). The number they suggest might just shock you, and not in a good way. Best of luck!
    Oct 12 10:21 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Banks Wising Up? Short Sales Increase [Housing Tracker]
    User 215110: Here is how 1/500 creates a crisis. CDOs with a 30/1 internal leverage structure are put on some bank's balance sheet and then levered again at 25 or 30 to one. 30 X 30 = 900/1 leverage. If the underlying asset fails at 1/500, and loss severity is high enough, you have a financial crisis.
    Aug 15 11:39 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • 10 Reasons In-Store Clinics Will Succeed
    all the things the current system isn't...cheap, transparent, convenient and non-bureacratic...it might work!!!
    Jun 13 10:39 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • Subprime Losses? Don't Believe Everything You Hear
    OK, so now all the monthly securitization data re delinquincies, roll rates, etc. is suspect because one bank pushed out their charge-off window...please.
    May 30 09:58 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article
  • How To Solve the Housing Crisis Tomorrow
    Same silly thinking which got us into this mess...the entire scheme relys on houses appreciating so the Feds can come out ahead. Let the market find equilibrium...likely another 15% to 20% down for Case-Shiller (to late 2003 levels). Writedowns on mortgage paper already exceed this level of home depreciation, so the investment banks are done with writedowns on CDOs. Commercial banks will still suffer for another 6 to 12 months (they've done less mark to market), but we'll get through it. Nutty idea.
    Apr 17 21:41 pm |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment |View article

c smith's Comments Stream Stats

  • 12 Comments, 9 , 1
  • Total Comment Stream rating - = 8